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Grand Forks AFB Airmen earn top-3 finish at local endurance race

  • Published
  • By by Staff Sgt. Luis Loza Gutierrez
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Four Airmen from the 319th Air Base Wing proved their toughness as Warriors of the North with a top-three finish at a local trail endurance race.

Airman 1st Class Olivia Minks, Senior Airman Jeffrey Lowder, Tech. Sgt. Byron Ball, and Staff Sgt. Shane Holland placed third overall in the relay team category at the Extreme North Dakota's Terrifying Run Amongst Innumerable Lost Souls, which took place Oct. 27 at Turtle River State Park in Arvilla, N.D.

The Extreme North Dakota Terrifying Run Amongst Innumerable Lost Souls is an annual epic Halloween themed trail run. Runners compete solo or as part of a relay team to try to complete as many laps as possible in a 12-hour period.

The foursome from Grand Forks Air Force Base, dubbed, The Burninators, competed against 10 other relay teams. They finished a total of 10 laps around the 6.1-mile course, which was filled with winding paths and elevation changes not typically seen this side of North Dakota. The team completed the 61 miles in 11 hours and 2 minutes.

"This was the first time we had ever raced together and the first time tackling an endurance race of this magnitude," said Ball.

Some of the Burninators admitted the top-three finish was a bit of a surprise.

"We went into this event with the goal of breaking 50 miles, but as we approached the end of the 12 hours, the realization set in that we could, in fact, finish in the top three," said Holland. "When the race was finally over, we were proud of not only meeting our goals, but surpassing them and placing among some of the best runners in Grand Forks."